"He's a merchant from Jiao Province! His name is Sun Wen! " Mi Zhu explained to Liu Mang.
"Jiao Province!" Liu Mang muttered. He wondered if Sun Wen was a merchant from Jiao Province.
"My Lord, I've sent someone to investigate. He's just a small merchant from Jiao Province. His family's wealth isn't much. He came to Yangzhou because he couldn't survive in Jiao Province!" Mi Zhu explained to Liu Mang.
"Good!" Liu Mang nodded. Perhaps he was thinking too much. However, looking at the rented ships, Liu Mang couldn't help but smile. "This Sun Wen is interesting. How can he fit three merchant ships? Isn't he afraid that he'll be swept away by the waves? "Liu Mang said with a smile.
This Sun Wen only has a total of a thousand taels of gold. If he wanted to rent a ship, he would have to pay half of it. Moreover, these three ships are all more than a hundred tons per day. How would they be able to fill them up? Moreover, Liu Mang is not sure about the sea. The sea is boundless and unpredictable. If there is a big storm, then they will lose everything. At that time, Sun Wen will also be penniless.
"My Lord, this person is planning to travel with the merchant ships!" Mi Zhu said to Liu Mang.
Liu Mang was even more interested. Travel with the merchant ships? This was going out to sea, it was hard to say whether or not they could come back. Generally, those who rent merchant ships were nobles and merchants. But don't think that these nobles and merchants would personally go out. They would send their own shopkeepers and the like. After all, their lives were still in danger on the sea.
However, Sun Wen was planning to go out personally. This saved Liu Mang the trouble of losing money if there was a storm. If there was a storm, he would sink with the ship. What was the point of thinking so much?
"Pass down the order, this person's boat rental fee will be waived. Also, give him three thousand gold, no, five thousand gold!" Liu Mang said. This time, Liu Mang was willing to pay five thousand gold for a small merchant.
"Five thousand gold? My lord, this … What is this? " Even Mi Zhu was confused. Sun Wen was just a small merchant who couldn't make a living in the Jiao Province. Was there a need for such preferential treatment?
"Zifang, I don't understand business, but you don't understand the human heart!" Liu Mang said with a smile. Everyone knew that going out to sea was risky. Except for the adventurous ones like Sun Wen, the rest of the businessmen who went out to sea were all closely related to Liu Mang. For example, Liu Neng's Liu family and Mi Zhu's Mi family. These new nobles went out to sea not only because they knew some insider information, but also because they wanted to show off to Liu Mang.
There were very few truly independent merchants left.
Liu Mang wanted to use Sun Wen as an example to encourage these people to go out to sea. The scale of the sea will only get bigger and bigger. Funan and Linhu are only two small countries. Later on, they will enter the Indian Ocean. There will be a wider space. That is not all. There will be other new continents to discover.
The risk of going out to sea was very high. One of the reasons why these merchants were willing to risk their lives was because of the high profits.
Liu Mang didn't give the five thousand gold to Sun Wen directly. Instead, he rented it to him. At the very least, he wanted Sun Wen to help him load the ship. The rest of the money would be given to him as a reward. Liu Mang wanted to set an example and let everyone know that if they wanted to get rich, then they should go out to sea. If they wanted to get rich, then they should go out to sea. If they wanted to stand out, then they should go out to sea.
"Zhang family?" Liu Mang saw another name and frowned.
If Liu Mang didn't guess wrong, then this person should be from the Zhang family of Chen Liu. Why did he come to Yangzhou?
"Milord, this Zhang family has business dealings with us!" Mi Zhu said to Liu Mang. Right now, Liu Mang controlled the sea salt. However, Liu Mang's Yangzhou did not have as much iron as the north. Thus, they were even. There was also the issue of cloth. In the south, the weather was hot and humid. Naturally, there was a need for cloth. However, it was different in the north. It was cold in the north, so there was a need for more cloth. In Yangzhou, there was now a need for machines to refine cloth.
As the efficiency of cloth production increased, the quantity of cloth would naturally increase, and the price would inevitably decrease. This was a good thing for the north. Originally, only the rich and powerful could afford to wear warm clothes during the winter. Now, ordinary people could also afford it. With such a big business opportunity, even if they had a big grudge with Yangzhou, those Yanzhou officials would not be so stupid as to not trade with Yangzhou.
Chen Liu's Zhang family, Zhang Miao's Zhang family.
"This Xun Yu really knows how to play!" Liu Mang laughed. Purchasing was part of the logistics, so it was naturally under Xun Yu's control. However, Xun Yu had been transferred to Liaodong.
The Zhang family was Zhang Miao's Zhang family. In the past, the Zhang family was good friends with Liu Mang's cheap father-in-law. When Lü Bu entered Yanzhou, it was them who opened the city gate. They wanted to rely on Lü Bu to stand up again. However, they didn't expect their father-in-law to be so useless that he was kicked out by Lao Cao.
Lao Cao was kind enough to get rid of the Zhang family's head. The bloodline of the Zhang family had been developing well over the years. Xun Yu also knew that if other families came to Yangzhou to do business, they would more or less be suppressed by Yangzhou. However, the Chen Liu's Zhang family would not be affected. This was because Lü Bu owed the Zhang family and would naturally compensate them.
Over the years, the Zhang family had made a lot of money in Yangzhou. Of course, Yangzhou would not lose out either. It was a win-win situation. However, Liu Mang did not expect the Zhang family to be involved in this trip.
"My lord, should I go and tell them not to rent the merchant ship to them?" Mi Zhu looked at Liu Mang's expression and asked Liu Mang.
"Rent? Why not? " Liu Mang chuckled. "Not only will we rent it, you go and tell the person in charge of the Zhang family that not only will we rent it, we will also waive their rent. Similarly, we will also lend them five thousand gold. If they make a profit, we will pay them back with interest.
Mi Zhu felt that his brain was not enough today. Sun Wen's appearance had already made him speechless. Now, he was going to lend the ship to Chen Liu's Zhang family? Did the lord have too much money to spend?
"However, you must make an agreement with the Zhang family. No matter if it is to settle the bill or return the principal, I want gold Lu Bu. I do not want anything else. I will also give them gold Lu Bu!" Said Liu Mang with a smile.
"Milord, you want to take this opportunity to bring Jin Lu Bu to Yan Province?" Mi Zhu's eyes widened as if he suddenly understood.
"Why not?!" Liu Mang blinked his eyes.
In the past, Yangzhou's Gold Lu Bu and gold could be exchanged for equal value. But now, it was not possible. In the past, Yangzhou's Gold Lu Bu and gold could be exchanged for equal value. But now, Yangzhou's Gold Lu Bu could not be exchanged for more than ten pieces of Gold Lu Bu. But if there were more than ten pieces of Gold Lu Bu, then the exchange would need to be reviewed. Generally speaking, the review would take ten days to half a month. If the amount was large, then the review would take longer. For businessmen, time was money. Even if they loaned out the gold, they would get back the money they spent. If the gold was exchanged outside of Yangzhou, such as Yanzhou, the review would take even longer.
"It's precisely because of the troublesome process that a lot of merchants are unwilling to trade. I've kept the gold Lv Bu because the existence of gold Lv Bu is still meaningful. It doesn't need to be woven and is easy to carry around. 100 gold Lv Bu is 100 gold Lv Bu.
Slowly, the market was filled with Lü Bu instead of gold. Naturally, the gold would be kept in Yangzhou's treasury.
Liu Mang had the Zhang family use Lü Bu because he had his own plans.
Although Liu Mang didn't have a 100% chance of making a profit, he still had an 80% chance of making a profit. Liu Neng brought back news that he used a water bottle and a broken knife to exchange for two pieces of gold from a small tribe in the Linhu Kingdom. The two pieces of gold were twice the size of Liu Mang's fist. These two pieces of gold weren't worth much. If it was something valuable, such as tea leaves and porcelain, the elders of the tribes would naturally like it. Once they liked it, they wouldn't lack money. Therefore, no matter how poor a country was, its ruler would always be rich.
It was precisely because of this that Liu Mang prepared to organize a large-scale trading activity. They also sent out eight thousand naval soldiers to protect the merchant ships.
After this first time, Liu Mang believed that there would be a second and third time. At that time, the scale of the merchant fleet would only get bigger and bigger, and the grain would be continuously transported back.
Grain, no matter how well sealed the granary was, it could not be stored for a long time. Liu Mang naturally needed to sell all the grain that had been stored for a long time. The closest ones to him would be Yan Province and Jing Province. Once the trade started, Yan Province would slowly be integrated into the Lü Bu's system. When Liu Mang found out that he couldn't do without the Lü Bu, Yan Province would be almost finished.
"Will Yan Province agree?" Mi Zhu was still worried. Would Yan Province agree to let the Lü Bu circulate? They had been beaten back in the past.
"That was in the past. Now that Xun Yu is gone, let's see who will stop us!" Liu Mang sneered. Even if there were people who understood, they understood that stopping someone from making money was like killing their parents. Once they refused to let the Lü Bu circulate, they would stop the nobles from coming to Yan Province to make money. When the time came, even if they didn't want to, the nobles would still put pressure on them.
After discussing with Mi Zhu for a while, Mi Zhu decided on a few things before returning to his residence.
Time always passed quickly.
In the courtyard of an inn in Yangzhou, there were several middle-aged men and a few young men. The middle-aged man paced back and forth as if he was thinking about something.
"Family Head, don't you know how dangerous it is to go to sea?" One of the middle-aged men complained to the middle-aged man sitting on the main seat.
"That's right, Third Brother. Father let you inherit the position of Family Head of the Sun family. We brothers didn't object because we know that you are a capable person. Only you can bring glory and splendor to the Zhang family. But now, you are too reckless!" Another middle-aged man complained.
"Second Uncle, Eldest Uncle, Father had no choice!" The young man explained.
"No choice? Did someone force him to rent a boat with a knife? Did someone use Dao to force him to write that application certificate? "
"Going to sea might be a way out. Our Sun family was driven out of Jiao Province. Do you think we can go back now? Although Yangzhou has a wide trade route, have you ever thought about how our Sun family was able to gain a foothold in Yangzhou? We have no power and no influence. Isn't it all because of Father? "The young man was also angry.
"Hmph, Sun Wu, don't speak good words for your father. If you ask me, you should take out the money and let Cheng Er go to Yangzhou Academy to study. Only then can our Sun family gain a foothold!" The Eldest Uncle spoke again.
In the end, it was because of money. In Yangzhou Academy, other than relying on one's own ability, there was another way to get in. However, the tuition fee of a hundred gold was not something an ordinary person could afford. The Eldest Uncle asked Sun Wen for money, but Sun Wen didn't give it. It wasn't that Sun Wen was stingy, but that his eldest brother's son was not good at studying. Spending the money would be a waste.
Now that Sun Wen wanted to rent a boat to go to sea, the Eldest Uncle suddenly exploded. You don't give my son the money to study, now you want to gamble with all your money?
"Eldest Uncle, forget it. Brother Cheng is still studying. If he had money, he would have already given it to Sister Yao!" The young man said to the Eldest Uncle impolitely.
"What are you talking about? Is this how you talk to your elders?" The Eldest Uncle was also angry. He shouted at the young man, "Today, your father is also here. You don't respect your elders. According to the Sun family's family rules, what should be done?"
"Family rules? Do you still care about family rules? My father is the head of the Sun family. Does he need your Eldest Uncle to tell him what to do? " The atmosphere became more and more tense, as if it would explode at any moment.
"Enough, enough!" Sun Wen shouted. His eyes were full of anger. The Sun family was rich among the poor, but they were poor among the rich.
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